Methods for producing a plant with enhanced resistance to pathogenic fungi

Abstract

This invention relates to a method for producing a plant with enhanced resistance to a pathogenic fungus, comprising transforming a plant with an expression vector comprising a DNA encoding a glucan elicitor receptor operably linked to a heterologous promoter, selecting a plant which has said DNA incorporated into a chromosome of said plant and which expresses said DNA, and recovering the selected plant. This invention also relates to a method for producing a progeny plant with resistance to a pathogenic fungus from said plant.

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . A method for producing a plant with enhanced resistance to a pathogenic fungus, comprising transforming a plant with an expression vector comprising a DNA encoding a glucan elicitor receptor operabliy linked to a heterologous promoter, selecting a plant which has said DNA, and recovering the selected plant.  
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1  wherein said DNA is derived from a plant.  
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1  wherein said DNA is derived from a dicotyledonous plant or a monocotyledonous plant.  
     
     
         4 . THe method of  claim 1  wherein said DNA codes for a glucan elicitor receptor comprising (i) an amino acid sequence as shown in SEQ ID NO:1, or (ii) an amino acid sequence comprising residues 239-442 of SEQ ID NO:1, or (iii) a fragment thereof which exhibits glucan elicitor receptor activity.  
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1  wherein said method further comprises incorporating a DNA encoding a glucanase into a chromosome of said plant, and expressing said DNA in said plant, and recovering the resulting plant.  
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5  wherein the DNA is derived from a plant.  
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 5  wherein the DNA is derived from a dicotyledonous plant or a monocotyledonous plant.  
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 5  wherein the glucanase is of an extracellualry secreted type.  
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 5  wherein the DNA encoding glucanase comprises a nucleotide sequence encoding an amino acid sequence as shown in SEQ ID NO:3 or SEQ ID NO:34 or a fragment thereof which exhibits glucanase activity.  
     
     
         10 . A method for producing a progeny plant with resistance to a pathogenic fungus, comprising transforming an ancestral plant with an expression vector comprising a DNA encoding a glucan elicitor receptor operably linked to a heterologous promoter selecting a plant which has said DNA incorporated into a chromosome of said plant and which expresses said DNA, and obtaining progeny from the selected plant through cultivation and/or breeding.